Contract
by Wildeve of the Heath
Summary: Prisoner 3294-A4, Ymir, age thirty-three, 5'8", brown hair, gold or amber eyes, whatever, et cetera. Our medical professionals did their best to keep her...quiet, we got her off the medication and been giving her placebos for this week as help for you guys. Though if I do recall properly, she was quiet the moment she stepped in here. MODERN!AU
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

Contract

Prisoner 3294-A4, Ymir, age thirty-three, 5'8", brown hair, gold or amber eyes, whatever, et cetera. Our medical professionals did their best to keep her...quiet, we got her off the medication and been giving her placebos for this week as help for you guys. Though if I do recall properly, she was quiet the moment she stepped in here.

Modern!AU

* * *

"You got visitors, lucky you," the usual guard said, she placed down her book and roused herself, her back cracking. Her eyes were weary from the words that seemed to drown on and on from the pages, her steps were similar to her hazed mind.

Ymir leaned against the door, hands through the slot so that he could lock the cuffs around her wrists. She huffed and withdrew her hands, slot slamming shut, she watched him open the door for her- she stepped out as another guard stooped low to cuff her ankles. Rolling her eyes, they gave her a nudge and she was escorted by two more other guards.

The gray halls beyond her normal view were a blessing to see, she only saw them every three months.

Her eyes wandered, peeking at the other cells to see other men and women behind the glass doors. As she shuffled down the hall, she wondered if those others would ever have visitors but given the prison they landed in, it was doubtful.

"Look straight, prisoner," a gruff voice ordered her, she did so immediately, silent.

Visitors were a rarer sight for any of them to see, more so than the halls or the elevator she stepped into. She waited, shifting her weight from left to right, then back again. She sighed and waited for the floor to arrive before the ding resounded through the metal box- she stepped out, still trailed and led by the men that kept a close eye on her.

On this floor, the halls were a darker gray, professional looking from what she could tell from the doors. It almost felt like an office, a dull one, but one none the less, save for the lack of plants, desks, water coolers, and people- hell, it wasn't even an office, it just looked like some dull hall. Her mind was truly hazed. She blinked once or twice before being ushered into one of the rooms to which there was a single table that she was ordered to sit at.

They chained her to the desk and left her in there alone.

Ymir folded her hands and looked around to observe more of her surroundings.

She was put in a white room, the table was bolted to the floor and made of metal, across from her was a mirror to which she saw herself for the first time in over three years.

Her hair had grown longer than she remembered last time she checked, maybe at least six inches had gotten down to the shoulder blades. There were dark circles under her eyes, those golden hues she once had were empty, those parts she remembered. She scoffed at her reflection and looked away. Her nose itched so she rubbed it against her shoulder.

She cleared her throat and remained quiet, though her thigh began to move in a quick rhythm, she was growing impatient.

-...-

"Doesn't look like anything in the pictures," Levi said as he handed the folder back to Hanji, she examined the contents much more closely than he did. He crossed his arms and glared at her. "You sure it's her, Jameson?"

Jameson nodded as Hanji offered for him to take a gander at the files. "Prisoner 3294-A4, Ymir, age thirty-three, 5'8", brown hair, gold or amber eyes, whatever, et cetera. Our medical professionals did their best to keep her...quiet, we got her off the medication and been giving her placebos for this week as help for you guys. Though if I do recall properly, she was quiet the moment she stepped in here."

"Then why pump her full of meds?" Hanji inquired as she went over the medical records.

"For someone at her level, doctors decided to give them to her by default. If you ask me, there wasn't much of a change but doctors are doctors," Jameson said, shrugging. "You two are free to go in there, she won't bite."

Hanji was the first to leave, Levi went after her shortly with Jameson close by. He opened the door for them and Hanji entered first, she had a briefcase in tow as Levi had the door close behind him. Ymir watched the woman carefully, she ignored the little man as she took note of how sullied the woman's hair was. She began to wonder if she was actually a prisoner here herself given how disheveled and unprofessional looking she was.

The woman looked out of place.

"Good day, Ymir," Hanji greeted her,"my name's Agent Hanji Zoe and this here is Agent Levi Ackerman, we're from the FBI."

Ymir merely gave a curt nod.

"I bet you're wondering why we're here."

Nod.

"We came all the way out here for two things," she began, she opened her briefcase and fished out a manila folder. Inside it was several pictures she laid out on the table, four men and a woman. Ymir reached a hand to pick up one and scrutinized the woman in the photograph. "Can you identify these people?"

"Annie, I remember her," Ymir complied, she had no reason to hide who they were, after all, she was behind bars from then on. She pointed at the other pictures. "Then Reiner. Bert. Marcel. That other guy though." She stopped at the man who wore rounded spectacles. "Never seen him before. Who's he?"

"So far, we've learned he is the leader, Zeke, and these four here are his top officers," Levi finally spoke,"we need a way to take them down-"

"No game," Ymir said, slapping the picture of Annie down as though she folded in a game of poker,"they may have been my clients but no, not anymore. I do the job they give me, not muddle in what they do. Not my problem."

"We figured you would say that," Hanji said, taking the photos back, she went to fishing out another folder as Levi approached, he took out a series of photos from another folder.

A photo of a teenager, her hair shoulder length and her face adorned with freckles, was presented to her. Ilse.

Ymir had not seen her in a long time but she remembered those silver eyes, kind and bright. She picked up the picture, calmness reaching her, then alarm, she placed it down and immediately asked,"What have you done to her?"

"Nothing at all, though without you out of there, she won't make it to college, though we are willing to help you help her," Levi explained,"we are willing to grant her a full ride to any place she picks, but only if you do what we need you to do. You in?"

Ymir's eyes lit up.

The opportunity to help out like she used to hardly ever came, rarely. It was like waiting for a fly to appear in her cell so that she could have another living thing with her. She had a pet fly for once, only for a day though, it died and she had no choice but to flush him down the toilet. Or her. Either of those.

She sniffled.

"What else goes with this? Stipulations? Guidelines? Do I got to follow the law?" Ymir asked, while she was willing to do this as soon as possible, she knew how these people can screw others over in a heartbeat when things go haywire. She folded her hands, she should not have shown that eagerness.

"Other than the offer for that nice college deal, our superior has decided to supply you with what you need to do. If you complete your end of the bargain, we will reduce your sentence by a substantial amount as well," Hanji said, she gave a smile- it was one of those smiles those used car salesmen would try to lure in people. "You think we will let you go out free completely? That's too much generosity!"

"Really? You know, you've got thousands of agents in your organization," Ymir countered,"you could ask any other agent to do this, set up operations, so on. Why you going to me?"

"Our...organization is compromised at the moment," Hanji's smile was gone,"we have our hands tied with trying to root out the issue going on. The, ah, compromise is too far and spreads wide-"

"So you decide to go to me because you people can't trust one another. Me, of all people, you decided to trust with this-" She waved her hand over the pictures. "-this situation that you people have too many politics to deal with and let grow...like a cancer."

"Your skills are an asset to us now, you have no allegiance, and unlike most of...your kind we came across, you have a steady mind. Stable to be out in the field unlike our own," Levi answered. She glanced at him, he never sat down, he seemed to have so much tensity in his small body. "However, we aren't going to let you out there in the world on your own. We aren't morons to trust you completely."

"...I'm going to have a partner," Ymir raised her brow.

"Exactly," Hanji said, nodding, her smile was back, Ymir gave a slight grimace at how eerie it was. "Your partner will keep tabs on you at all times, so forth, and make sure you won't run off and do whatever it was you normally did."

"And if I decide to kill said partner?"

Levi scoffed. "Botch this operation and then the girl here-" He placed a finger on Ilse's forehead. "-will lose more than her ride to college."

Ymir's lips curled into a snarl, the shackles rattled as she glared at both of them. If there was no bars keeping her locked, she would have strangled the both of them with her chains. She tried to stand up but was jolted down by the metal. "You can't do that- I made a deal with your people before to fucking _protect_ her! Why the _fuck_ you think I'm here!?"

"What's one world lost of one potential college student?" Levi asked as though it were the simplest thing he could say.

"I've met some crazy bastards in my time, some real screwy ones, but none as worse as you two," she said hotly, she gathered her saliva and spat towards Levi yet she missed. "Worse than animals, you people."

Hanji clapped her hands in front of Ymir's face, at this, she whipped her head to glower at her. She stopped clapping like a seal when she caught her attention. "Hey, hey, hey, what he meant was...yes, we can do anything but we are above that. We aren't going to kill her, so just calm down and let us be civilized." She raised her hand to Levi's face before he opened his mouth. "Bup-bup-bup, no, quiet. Now, are we calm?"

Ymir brushed her lips against her shoulder, wiping herself clean. "...I'm going to hold you to that. I swear, if someone so much as touches a single hair on her hair, I will bring down all of you."

"We don't doubt you can," Levi murmured.

"Well, are you going to help us?" Hanji pressed.

Ymir brought her smoldering gaze upon the pictures. Her fists clenched as she weighed the cost and benefit of this, her teeth ground against one another.

These people are insane.

-...-

And there she was, blindfolded.

She thought of all the moments that led her up to this, all the choices she made. In hindsight, they were all poor choices, very poor ones but what can one do about it?

At least these agents had the mind to give her civilians clothes. Just jeans and a white shirt under a plaid button down that she kept open.

The smooth ride of the road changed to bumps, every so often she was jolted her in her seat. Ymir sighed, waiting for the van to halt to a stop, and it finally did after what felt like hours that passed. She wanted to hurl from the disorientation they put her through, however, she kept quiet and held it down. Her mind traveled back to those daze when she did drive, she swore it had to be Hanji driving that made her sick.

Ymir believed she was a better driver than Hanji, the woman was too erratic for her taste.

"Alright, we're here," Hanji rang,"dump her."

The blindfold was ripped off her face, a hand grabbed the collar and she was forced to stand up. Her eyes still couldn't see well in this lighting, it felt blinding outside when the door flew open and she was tossed out onto the street.

She landed on her shoulder upon the asphalt, she groaned as the tailpipe blew into her face- they quickly drove off the moment she was out. She shook her head and then used her now free hands to wipe her face. The van pulled away fast and far, leaving her in Lord knows where. Her mind was in a haze again as she slowly brought herself up to her feet and examined where she was.

Wherever she was, it felt like it was the slums, some inner city place. Cars that had seen better days lined the curbs, it was late at night so the dimmed lamp posts let out tired old red lights instead of white, sharp ones, she swore she could hear barking from stray dogs somewhere. It was a dreary place, somewhere she didn't feel safe in.

She didn't like this.

"Rough ride?"

Ymir immediately turned around to see who spoke to her.

It was a young, short, blond woman that seemed to be in place with the city. She wore what seemed to be a blue party dress though she had a windbreaker jacket to cover her exposed shoulders. Her high heels clicked upon the ground as she approached. Ymir stared at her, cautious, as the girl remained stoic, stiff even in her expression.

Maybe she had one too many men beating on her that she couldn't hold that charm they were supposed to have. Regardless, she found the woman oddly alluring but she pushed it to the back of her mind- whoever she was, she was one of them.

"You a prostitute?" Ymir asked as she rolled up her sleeves. She doubted she was but she had to at least

"They said you were going to have humor." Her lips cracked a slight displeasure. "Come with me," she said briskly. She turned away and headed back to the curb. Ymir didn't follow, hesitent. "Do you want to get this started or not? I could send you back right now if you want."

"Alright, I'm coming."

Ymir decided to go with her. "Got a name?"

"Krista," she said.

"With a 'C-H'?"

"K."

Ymir nodded in agreement, letting out a laugh under her breath. "Hm'k, Krista with a K. They said you got the goodies so don't let me down."


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

* * *

She had to admit that this Krista "with a K" was highly attractive. Ymir kept at her heels, she glanced around once in a while to learn that they were the only ones out on this street this late. A low whistle passed between her lips, she clicked her tongue, she wanted to fill in the silence. While she had been to cities across the country, none of this looked familiar.

The tall buildings did not permit her to see any notable landmarks.

Her eyes wandered here and there before settling on the cars and trucks that were parked. A majority of them claimed to hail from Florida. She bobbed her head in agreement- Miami was the last place she met up for a contract from Annie. She wondered if she was in Miami at all.

She jogged up to catch up with her- for the woman's small stature, she could walk pretty fast. They traveled down one block before Krista stopped in front of a decrepit apartment building, one of those that were used as projects for the homeless but now abandoned. Krista took out a set of keys from her pocket and fiddled with the lock, trying to relieve if from its jam.

After a few minutes of struggling, the lock finally gave in and opened the gate. At this, Krista entered, leaving Ymir to close the gate behind her and wait for the secondary door to be unlocked. With little struggle, the door finally opened and the two walked up a flight of stairs.

"Now that we're out of the streets, mind telling me what city we're in?" Ymir asked as she watched Krista try to find the correct keys to open the gate.

"Miami, Florida," Krista curtly responded, throwing her coat onto an end table.

Despite its exterior, the interior was well-kept and shined rather neatly. Though, the boarded up windows, followed by iron bars reminded her of where exactly they were.

"The city of magic," she went into the parlor, sliding into an armchair and sizing up Ymir. "Tell me- what sort of voodoo brought you back from the hell of max?"

She crossed her legs, peering up at the woman. She was quiet for only a moment before getting up, sauntering to the refrigerator and pulling out a decanter of whiskey.

"Actually, don't tell me- the less I know, the better," she didn't seem all too interested to begin with as she poured herself a generous amount in a glass. She didn't even offer to pour Ymir one as well as she went back to the arm chair.

"Magic, huh?" Ymir inquired, she pulled up a chair across from her and sat there, bending slightly to rest her elbows on her own knees. "I dunno, you tell me, you're my partner for this, aren't you? Thought you read up my case file and know how the hell I got out, not like I got my side of the story."

She scoffed at the amount the girl was going to drink. She shook her head, smiling at the ridiculousness in front of her, she ran one hand through her hair. For some reason, she expected to be tailed by a fat man in a suit, some guy who was on the verge of retirement, not some little woman who could count for a child.

"You're not at all what I was expecting," she admitted. "Thought I'd never live to see the day I see an agent dressed as..." She motioned her hand towards Krista's dress. "...that, y'know. Whore, basically. Is that your get up? You spread your legs, get some, and then take some sort of information out of them? Man, never knew the FBI was so desperate for so much help, they come to me and prostitutes, all time low. Really."

"Ah," Krista gestured with her glass, sipping it without a grimace, "I see why they picked you- denser than a bag of bricks."

Krista didn't bother giving a smile as she watched Ymir.

"You should've figured it all out about now, but, I really shouldn't be surprised at all... Of course Levi would give me such a piss poor case."

She drank more, staring off into nothing.

"It'll be the big one," Krista whispered mockingly at what Hanji said to convince her to take it.

At the sound of being insulted by the blonde in front of her, Ymir could only glare at her. "It's a big one considering it involves the most powerful organization known to American citizens. Ought to be trembling in fear of it, hell, it breached into one of your people. If you think it's unimportant, so easy to handle for you, why don't you go out there and clear it all up?"

She was tired already.

She had been tossed into a plane and then jostled around for hours in a van, not to mention the motion sickness. Usually at the sight of a good drink she would get right to it but it was not the best of times to partake in such a thing. Hearing the girl in front of her made her roll her eyes- at least she hoped that whoever they partnered her with had some sort of professionalism.

As Krista took sips of her drink some more, Ymir rubbed her eyes. "You aren't supposed to be drinking anyway, it removes the professional courtesy you're supposed to impose, for Christ's sake."

"The professional courtesy of what?" Krista finally smiled a bit, swirling her drink. "I didn't realize I was humoring a big bad wolf." She took her drink, standing, and walking to stand near Ymir. "I'm meant to disarm and find the weakness in people's words. I find your sensitive, troublesome quirks- and, I either put a gun to it, or I put you in jail for it."

She lifted the glass to Ymir's lips.

"Now, for some who swung for the other team, why are you so serious about the Law? Last time I read what I could get of your case, we put you away for good."

She kept the drink to the woman's lips, tilting it lightly, waiting for her to drink.

"Drink the water," she whispered. Almost even demanding.

Ymir brushed the glass away from her lips, she had no intention of getting drunk at the moment. It would cloud up her mind and considering what she was going up against sooner or later, it would best be for her to remain sober for at least most of the duration. "I have damn good reason to be serious. You know the deal. I do the job, Ilse goes to college. I don't do it or if I run away, someone, somewhere at whatever safe house you got her in, will put a bullet in her skull.

"Taking into account the FBI's track record, I just want to get this job done and over with. Hell, why am I being watched by you anyway? What makes you so special? Thought I was a high-profile criminal, shouldn't I be given a high-profile guardian or something?"

She pushed away the glass when it was brought to her lips.

"Stop that."

Krista took it back and sipped the very place Ymir's lips touched.

"Perhaps we know you have a weakness for blondes? It doesn't matter. We have a job and we will tackle it." Krista was back at her chair, quiet and relaxing, wondering when exactly she receive the signal. She muttered,"At least pretend to enjoy yourself. No strings attached. Just be thankful you're out of those walls."

At least the inmate was truthful about her contract.

"Those walls were starting to feel like home," Ymir huffed, she sat back in her chair. "You familiar with Zeke and his men? They mostly operate down here anyway. I used to get jobs from them. Killed debtors, runaways, rivals, everything they needed dead so they can get their power. Never messed with their business or anything until I got a hefty deal for one of their own men, some guy named Berwick, one of the officers in there."

She shook her head.

"They said to never fuck with Zeke but I needed the money and took up the job. Got on their bad side. Had to turn myself in to protect myself and Ilse...now you guys want me to get out of my own cage and bring them all down because none of you could clear up the mess I made. Now that I think of it...it's more of myself fixing up what I've done, but this isn't like fixing a broken window."

"It absolutely is not. I don't play with the big bad wolves like you- I know very well that we're just lambs behind the fangs." She remarked. "I don't lose much if I hardly play, but I'm in it this time. Mostly because my hands are tied- tough shit to us, isn't that right?" She grimaced, drinking more. "But, maybe we'll come out with some meat- get what we want?"

Krista bored my gazed at Ymir, exhaling.

"Am I giving you the right encouragement? Is this helping you feel better so we can work better? If not, I'll gladly shut up."

She placed the glass down, finally.

"I don't get what you are," Ymir sighed, normally she wouldn't talk to people, even before she went behind bars. It was usually get in, get the job done, get paid, then leave. In truth, she never worked with a partner. Too much potential backstabbing, literally. "What are you getting out of this?"

"I'm getting experience to look good on my resume," she snorted. "Not much but a little kiss on the ass."

She glimpsed at Ymir.

"Why does it matter to you? Or, will it comfort you if I tell you the truth?"

She felt her head finally buzzing as her body was finally relaxing.

"If I'm going to be working with a partner, I may as well know that you're worth someone getting her ass out of trouble," she explained,"I don't want to be put in a situation and be left for dead when things get their worst."

"Well, if it's any consolation, I will look out for you as much as I can. More than Ackerman would," she mentioned, "and, I wouldn't dare leave you with Zoe- people who 'die' tend to end up in her labs for 'testing'. Some in the force believe she's a necrophiliac, or gets off on torture. I'd hate for you to find out."

Her words were ridiculous but she held no intention about it being a joke. In fact, she gave her a grave look.

"The police aren't so golden anymore, are they? Especially if they have you and me."

"Seeing how the FBI is infested with Zeke's men, no doubt the police would follow suit, at this point it could be anyone you knew that's been turned," she figured, she got up. "Enough with this. They said they'll equip me with whatever I need. Show me what they are, I want to see how generous your people can be. The amount they give is the amount of need they want this job to pull through."

Krista got up, placing her glass on the small coffee table, and headed for the hallway that had three doors. To the third on the left, at the end, was one that Ymir was led to. She opened the door and let Ymir in first.

Within it was a twin bed, then a table with a single suitcase. Ymir curiously raised a brow, she examined more of the room and looked around some more only to learn that the suitcase was the only external object there. She strode to it, opened it, and found that only there was a sniper rifle and semiautomatic handgun. Both came with matching silencers.

"...this it?" Ymir asked, she laughed under her breath, she snapped the briefcase shut. "You guys really must not need me to do the job. I can't work with this, I need more. I'm not just a killer, I need more equipment!"

Krista stood near the door, leaning against the frame.

"You make due," she informed her,"perhaps you can take out the little guys and steal their guns and work your way up?" It sounded ridiculous. "As you can see, we're stretched for equipment, and, y'know, might not want to arm the convict up to her teeth- just in case."

"What? You think I'm going to shoot you?" Ymir asked, she shook her head. "Nah, you got a nice face, be a shame if I mar you with these things. At least it's better than a knife, though I could use one in case close combat occurs." She shook her head again. "No, no, Levi said that I would be supplied with everything."

She stared at the case once more.

"Guess this is all you people have." She then glanced over at Krista. "What about you? You supposed to tag along with me or you gonna help me? I need files, gotta know who my targets are, what they do, where they go, how they even sleep, surely you got information about that since you got that nut-job of a Hanji on the case."

"You sure do know how to make a girl feel special."

Krista went to the suitcase, admiring the sniper rifle of choice.

"Yes- that's more my expertise. Subterfuge, information brokering, and keeping my ear to the wall deal."

She sat on the bed by the guns.

"We have files, we have targets, we have what they do, we have their addresses and close relative's addresses, they sleep as if they were babies, and they'd most likely like to sleep with me if I gave them the offer- you're an experienced hitman. It should be like fish in a barrel- I distract, grab information, and, when we got what we need, you can do whatever."

She brought her eyes back at the guns.

"I'm used to the corruption- so, if you feel like killing them in some horrible way, just mind that I'm not around. It gives me the creeps."

Again, her voice betrayed her words. She didn't seem like she would care if she somehow did hear it.

"Doubt we could use you more than twice if you go in there with that face," Ymir started,"I can't just go in and hunt them one by one, they'll be spooked and run too fast, too far, burn the whole operation and start anew, then everything will fall apart. They'll have to be taken down all at once, that's the best choice if we want this done fast."

She paced around, thinking.

"We're going to need help on this. Since you guys only gave me this-" She waved her hand at the guns. "-you people didn't think of bringing in more bodies to do it. Give me your phone, I need to call some people."

"What sort of people, Ymir?" Krista kept her phone close to her, narrowing her eyes. She didn't want the other woman to go through her own contacts.

"More me," Ymir pointed at her chest. "There are four targets, each need to be dead as soon as fucking possible. For this to go off, you're not going to do it all on your own. Now give me the phone and let me do my job. Also, I'll need money to grease them up for this. Again, more me...unless you got anyone else in mind who's willing to help but do not have ties to Zeke."

When Krista didn't respond to her, Ymir sighed and covered her eyes, she rubbed them, exasperated.

"Look, I guess I'm just a consultant at this point and my best advice to go about doing this is my way, now give me a damn phone so I can call up more people that I can rely on. I'm not going to place a target sign on you if that serves as any sort of comfort. I'm not stupid to try any of that shit with you."

"Permission granted as long as these 'others' don't blab or may be corrupted. It's our heads on the line, Ymir," she gave over the phone and waited to listen on her conversation.

"They're good people," Ymir assured her, she took the phone and dialed in a number. She waited, only to have it go to voicemail. about two more times before the number went through, a man's voice came on the line.

"Who this?"

"Get Sasha," Ymir said sternly.

"...who this?"

"Listen, you fucking moron, it's me, Ymir, now get Sasha on the line-"

"Whoa, shit! Ymir! Heard you were doing hard time, not getting out without a body bag last I knew. What's up, girl?"

Ymir rolled her eyes and paced around, becoming frustrated at hearing the idiot on the other line. She pinched the bridge of her nose, warning him,"Don't make me ask a third time."

"Alright, alright, no need to get your nuts in a twist, give me a moment, she's kinda...preoccupied at the moment- hey, excuse me, sir, if you can shut up for a while? Yeah, we'll attend to you after the next guy. Goddamn, targets, never silence quite easily, eh? Especially when they start pleading like I'm the judge."

Ymir didn't answer.

"...hey, Sasha! Get over here, you got a caller!"

In the background, Sasha shouted,"In a minute, Connie, Jesus! This guy's gettin' all squirmy!"

A gunshot rang through the speaker.

Ymir paused in the middle of the room, she rubbed her eyes and waited before the phone on the other end was handed over to the second voice, Sasha's voice came out, she practically shouted,"Ya gotta have a good reason why you're callin'!"

"Sasha, it's me."

"Oh...oh! Ymir, you! Got out early?"

"Yeah, sure, something like that. I got a job for you, pays you well, I can set up an arrangement, a week from today. Need you to get Jean and Marco too. You cool with that?"

Sasha was quiet for a moment, then spoke,"Ymir, Marco died last year. He was gunned down by Feds before he could get to the Senator. Jean's been...well, he's not real happy but I'll get him to work. You'll owe me for this."

"I know, and I promise you, this job will pay well."

"...fine, where we meetin'?"

"Your place. Also, I'm bringing a client of mine. She'll have the cash ready."

At this, the line dropped and then Ymir handed Krista her phone back.

"Their rates are the same as mine before. We tried to keep competition out of this," Ymir started, she went to sit on the bed. "Considering who we're up against, they won't be willing to unless the pay is good. Levi said you'll provide me all I need, I need those people, you need those people. Money is what we need, we need that else I'll just get to the meet-up with an empty case and some hot prostitute."

Krista took her phone back, watching Ymir with amused.

"I'm glad you find me soft to the eyes."

She clicked her tongue, glancing at the dialed phone number and memorizing it. Just in case those people ever became a problem then at least she could bug the phone.

"Well, I don't carry cash with me, exactly, but I do have the code to a safe somewhere on location. Might not be all of it, but who pays cash up-front these days?"

She got up, walking to the side of the bed, and lifting the mattress up and off. It was the box spring mattress; she withdrew a concealed knife and cut up the fabric, revealing a cache.

"You can ask Levi or Hanji for more if it's not enough," Krista sighed. "C'mon, grab it, and the guns- and I will be your 'hot' accessory piece to your 'bad-ass' reunion."

Krista's lips slightly curled at the ends.

"I did transactions electronically, had overseas bank accounts, those others are more...local operators, they like seeing physical copies," Ymir started, she went and touched several bills, it was a while since she touched actual money. "This will be enough to get their attention." She went outside and found another suitcase, she brought it in and started filling it up with the bills, keeping them neatly packed and aligned with one another. "We pay them a portion if the contract is made, then we pay the rest after the job is done."

She didn't bother to count. It was all for show to garner their attention. She finished packing the bills together and snapped the briefcase shut.

"Now that's over with, I'd like to see the files, get to know our targets better," she said, she went to the living room, expecting the files to be handed to her. She had no idea where everything was, but what she was used to was gaining a photograph and her client telling her to shoot whoever was in it.

But for this operation, she wanted it to go smoothly. There had been one or two incidents in the past where they got away, but she always made sure to catch them sooner or later.

"Of course," Krista went to the living room with her, retrieving the manila folder and passing it over to Ymir. "You will find everything necessary- frequented locations, family, records, bank account statements, photographs, and any past committed crimes."

She sat near Ymir, overlooking the folder.

"If you have any questions, shoot them to me," she lounged by her, staring up at the clock, "when do your friends expect you?"

"Gave them five days, should be enough to collect the money...usually we meet around midday, share a couple beers, shoot some of those gators, sometimes we even go to Church if we feel religiously up to it," Ymir listed off, she softly chuckled,"those were good days if we aren't running around trying to get our marks. Met Sasha up in Orlando, she had a call on a gang leader, same as me. First it went sideways, she ended up with the gun to her head but guess who came along to save her? I shot him down, she let me take the cash and we went off sipping margaritas on the beach."

Ymir huffed as she laid out the papers in front of her.

"You can go to bed if you like, I'm going to look over this." When Krista didn't move, she finally glanced at her. "...you can handcuff me if you want, regardless, I'm not running off, not stupid."

"An old lover? Not surprising," Krista picked up her whiskey again, enjoying the quiet evening. At most, she'd be hitting every seedy bar to hit her cases, dig up dirt, and open new cases with whatever was on the street. "Sadly, I'm not into bondage- at least not on the first date," Krista said, grabbing the remote and turning it onto the news. "Plus, if you ran, I know Hanji and Levi are holding you by the balls. I don't need to threaten or cuff you."

"She wasn't a lover or girlfriend or any of that, she's got this...fucking midget that hangs around her all the time, pretty sure she's savvy with him," she said distantly, she looked over the files of Annie.

She found that the woman had been arrested multiple times on accounts of drug trafficking, human trafficking, murder, she had quite a lot on her list yet she was never pressed for charges on a good majority of them. While they had records of her, someone had been working hard to avoid her from getting a life sentence at the very least.

The other two men were held on similar accounts yet both of them were never prosecuted properly.

However, Zeke had a light file, so light that it only consisted of one paper, a photograph of him.

"Looks like whoever infiltrated cleaned up a lot on this guy," Ymir said, holding up the photograph,"you people really let things spin out of control. Not even a birth date or anything."

" _'You people'_ , you keep saying that, but you act as if I'm the highest in the hierarchy- able to read all files, know every person." She took the last sip of her whiskey until it was finally gone. "I'm just the person who puts in the hours, and accidentally caught Doctor Zoe on a mania-induced night. Not that my bank account is complaining, but, still- I'm not the problem. I came in late to this party, Lagnar," she fiddled with her empty glass, observing it in the lamplight.

"I say _'you people'_ because _'you people'_ seem to act like you're going to do work for this country, which is a shit country by the way considering all the politics going on, sheep for citizens, everything," Ymir laughed lightly,"but the reality of it is...you're just an enemy to the other people. The citizens you're meant to protect."

She shook her head.

"FBI...never scared me until now. Thought I'd give it a whirl, put Ilse in protection, yet here you are, putting a goddamn gun to her head." She slapped the photograph of Zeke down. "Speaking of Ilse, you got her number? Some way I can reach her? I know she's in witness protection and all but..."

Ymir trailed off.

"Again, you overestimate how many chips I have on this gamble with having you temporarily on our force," Krista repeated. "I only know as much as Levi and Hanji will supply-which isn't much given how badly the corruption has spread."

Krista was tired of being belittled by the other woman- it was exhausting to hear her shove and sneer about their line of work. Not that she was particularly proud of what she had been doing ever since she got guided into the private sector, but, it was better work than actually killing people for others.

"You may think we're all bad- you say this country is shitty, and, y'know, I may agree to an extent- but this country also produced you. You also hurt 'innocent' people by killing. I mean, by all means, slander the FBI, many give it a bad name, but, just know, you're always three pegs down below us, and nothing you can say is going to ease that guilty conscious of yours and how you regret you picked up a life that endangered your sister."

Krista wasn't one to let someone trample over her the moment they arrived.

She clicked the TV off and stared at Ymir.

"Now, it doesn't feel nice to be slapped around after being done a rather big favor, does it? Shape up or get out of my face, Lagnar. You were given a free ride so at least pretend to be grateful, you bitter shit."

"Endangered her?" Ymir asked, she laughed again, she brought her feet up to the table, slamming them as she looked directly at her. She crossed her arms. "I didn't want to be forced into this life but I was, because it paid so fucking well. I kill someone, I get paid, I put food on the table, I go to bed, rinse and repeat. The people I killed weren't exactly innocent either, you know. I'm not one judge, oh wait, I am, because I'm the one pulling the trigger, but I've seen some shit those people done and I'm pretty sure they deserved what was coming to them."

She pointed to herself.

"I wasn't killing innocent people, get that? I was killing people who done wrong to other people, some justice you people tend to neglect. Damn, you can get every file you can possibly have on me but you won't know shit about me still. I'm not a psychopathic gunslinger out to destroy lives with every outburst I get, I'm just someone who did a job that others didn't want to do.

"Apparently, unlike 'your people', I can do a job. I don't break contracts. I came to your people, fucking told them to put my sister in witness protection, do my time, and now that something came up, you think it's wise to fucking decide to threaten me with her life just so I can get something done for you. That's some twisted shit, real, sick shit."

Krista laughed.

Oh, she laughed.

"Lagnar, this is your case file- not your tinder profile. I don't know whether you like sex on the beach, or if you'd rather cuddle on a beach on sunset. Give me a break. Like I know every inch of that -passionate- soul you have."

Krista chuckled right in her face about it.

"Again, _'my people'_? I am not the FBI. I work for it- I do smaller cases. I'm not the head of it all deciding who gets to die, who is left off the hook- the sooner you stop generalizing, the sooner you will realize that the shit on your back and shoulders? Yeah, that's from you because your head is so far up your ass."

She was getting frustrated with the woman. She kept talking like she knew everything and the world was an evil oyster and she was some grand hero who was on the other side of the tracks.

"Listen to yourself- you were 'forced' because it paid well? Just like lawyers or doctors were forced to become their profession for the pay. What happened to, say, I don't know, working at a diner, or at the postal services? Work your way up? And, really, judge of a person's life just because you can take it? I suppose I'm the judge of all whiskey if I can simply drink it? Dear Lord, they sent me a child who believes they know the world in their hands- get real. Just hearing you regurgitate your closed-off views is enough to make me want to write it down and publish a young-adult book about some troubled emo kid."

"You know, when Levi and Hanji said that they were going to shove me next to a partner, I was expecting someone who would be professional in their line of work. Maybe even respectable. What I didn't expect was that they were sending some little girl with a gun preparing to put my life into some warped perspective."

She clicked her tongue as she got up.

"Who the hell decided that you ought to work on this with me? In what way did they see you compatible to be with another human being? What'd you do to even get a high profile case like this, huh? Had to suck off some guy in administration? Spread your legs for your boss? Go on, tell me!"

"Well, I sure as hell didn't screw up enough where I had to put my sister in witness protection." She snorted.

"I find it just, hilarious, Lagnar, at how I'm being so very uncouth suddenly when this whole time you've been a pain in my ass, complaining and shoving unaccredited sneers at me."

Krista was used to the sideways glances the others gave her when she had to pretend she was a prostitute. Oh, how the office loved to say that Ackerman just enjoyed her ass and that's how she got that sudden promotion. Too bad he was rather gay.

"Well, I guess they used the same criteria to get you- find a little girl, give her a gun, and put her in the same play room as the other and send them off to tackle a big issue. Who knows, Lagnar? Maybe they're using us as bait for your little friends, maybe we're the first people to storm Normandy, and end up as corpse shields for the actual, real officers?"

Krista was bored and pissed at the same time. It was infuriating because she really had no connections to swap off with so she could relieve her stress at the shooting range.

"Are you done with throwing your piss at me? If you are, I will stop, too. I only returned it to see how much of an ignorant hypocrite you were. I got the answer I needed. I got it plain and clear."

Ymir walked about the room here and there, she waved her hand as if trying to get her out of the room in her own way. "...just...just no. Let's just get this shit over with and then get back to our lives. Besides, about the officers, which one of them can you really fucking trust with your life? Huh?"

Ymir was done listening to her, she headed for her room to where her torn up mattress was; she slammed the door. She merely tried to put it back together and then landed upon it, laying on her back and staring at the ceiling. This was a bullshit situation those people placed her in.

It was something unnecessary. In her defense, she wasn't even supposed to be out and about doing this.

Not anymore.

She was hoping she would get peace and some sort of obscure safety behind bars but that didn't work out for her, not right now.

She scoffed and turned to her side, going into a fetal position to face the wall. She wondered what Ilse was doing, was she sleeping now? What year of school she was in anyway? Does she have friends wherever she was at? Hopefully safe?

Ymir bargained her life away to keep her protected, she just hoped that those people knew what they were doing with her.


End file.
